Emissions Impact of Green Energy Projects
Synapse was selected by the EPA's Office of Research and Development to identify and develop a methodology for calculating the emissions impact of "green energy" projects, such as wind power, municipal solid waste, and landfill gas generating resources. The goal was to investigate typical output characteristics of these resources on a regional basis, and to identify fossil fuel-based resources which are most likely to be displaced each hour by the green resources, given the operation of the regional electric power grid. Synapse analyzed industry data on resource operations together with information from the EPA's Clean Air Markets database (http://www.epa.gov/airmarkets/emissions/index.html), to calculate the emissions benefits from green energy projects throughout the United States. Emissions analyzed include CO2, NOx and SO2. The paper is available for downloading on the EPA's website at http://www.epa.gov/nrmrl/pubs/600r08087.html.